Smiles 198:365

Great marketing ploy, especially if you have a child in tow - pig walks/rabbit hops into your path with a balloon giving price! Not so good if they get stuck in a corner as they make a very annoying noise!

Franz Karl Weber in Zürich is great fun with a slide into the basement (although not sure about the separate floors for girls and boys toys!) 

We also visited Orell Füssli where I had to smile at Jude's horror when looking at the price of English books. Books are expensive here anyway but English ones are even worse. It also sells 'ex-pat food' and that prompted an outburst 

"This Peppermint Aero is marked £1 but costs 4.90CHF!"

Hotdog by the Limmat soon calmed things down...

But then indignation reappeared as we spotted the Frauenbad

"What! Is there one just for men then? That's not fair!"

My boys do make me smile! 

Smiles 183:365

Champagne at Mövenpick Wein Bar in Zürich with lisa Miranda and Yvette - 35CHF for champagne all evening and we certainly had our money's worth. Not sure where the time went as we arrived at 7 and we only left because they were shutting! We laughed a lot and plans are afoot to move ISW PA meetings to 'Champagne Night' in Zürich ;)

And an afternoon of crazy golf with the boys. Glorious sunshine and lots of fun navigating tunnels, humps, water features and zoo animals. Jude enjoyed sitting on various of the latter!

Smiles 145:366

A trip to Konstanz this morning began with these very nicely presented - and very tasty! - beverages, and continued with lots of productive shopping.

And then this evening, we went into Zürich to watch the Champions League final in the Kaiser Franz pub. Except we watched it from outside as the people inside were spilling out of the door. Good view of the screen though!
And as we stood on the pavement, a load of Italian Catholics processed down the road, celebrating a saint's day (we think!)

Carb loading now ready for tomorrow...

Smiles 89:365

A rainy Easter Saturday and a visit to Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum in Zürich. "Kids are free" always makes me smile, and there was plenty to see. Favourite sections were the swords and armour (Jude), the Swiss political cartoons (Isaac) the Swiss wheel (me) and the comfy leather sofa (John) in the Animali exhibition.
I also quite enjoyed the 'TV studio' and pretending to present the weather, ably filmed by Jude! See the smile?

Whilst we were taking a break in the Bistro, Jude asked "Where's Peck-ing?" We thought he meant Peckham (although this was strange as we were in Zürich) then we noticed the clocks on the wall showed the time in New York, Zürich and ... Peking. Love him - he had no idea that Beijing used to be called Peking!

Smile in other languages
As Kate Mosse's Sepulchre starts tonight, today it's Occitan!
In Occitan - sorire

Smiles 33:365

A trip to Hardbrücke this morning to explore the Viadukt Markthalle and trendy shops under the arches of the railway.
We found this pretty 'mermaid in a rocket' on one of the arches under the railway line into Zürich.

And as we sat eating Chäschüechli and Würstweggen, we looked out the window and saw that the Solarstrom power wasn't doing so well on a wet Saturday lunchtime! (It had managed to double output by the time we passed on the train a little later!)

Other things that made me smile today
Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards winning Splash! He should have tried Olympic diving rather than ski jumping! And they all jumped in at the end just like in We are the Champions!
Jude's funny faces when trying to avoid Isaac 'being kind' to him.
Memories of vibrantly coloured cupcakes made in my honor by the little 'Bones' :0)

Smiles in other languages
In Icelandic - brosa

(and another smile - I remembered to publish this before I fell asleep!)

Smiles 10:365

If you wondered why there are areas of Zürich Hauptbahnhof behind hoardings, there are giant PlayMobil men working with proportionally oversized shovels ;)
A cheery way to start the day - added to the heisse Schoggi this morning as a treat for bring early!

More smiles at school courtesy of Kindergarten including comments on wrinkles (not mine) and the sight of a a group of incredibly muddy kids emerging from the garden area having had rather a lot of fun making garden art, building 'hotels' and finding mini beasts.

Smile in other languages
In Romanian - zâmbește

Smiles 9:365

Today we have a 'looks like a smile' picture.

Can you spot it on the ZVV (Zürich Transport System) zone map?

Look at the lakes - Zürichersee makes the mouth, and Greifensee  (dissects zone 130) and Pffäfikersee (bottom of zone 135) the eyes. Always amuses me when I'm waiting for a train. Which isn't a bad thing!

Things I saw today that made me smile
The MediaMarkt advertisement featuring nudity in a board room and a well placed objet d'art!
The workmen installing bollards outside the Royal Hospital in Belfast to stop nurses parking who forgot that they'd parked their van INSIDE the bollards!
Being hugged at least four times today by various 6 year olds for no apparent reason. One even ran down the corridor to do it - didn't have the heart to tell her off for breaking a class rule...!

Smile in other languages
In Bulgarian - Усмивка

Smiles 2:366

Two pictures today as I couldn't decide which to use - and I am allowed to smile more than once!

On the tram in Zürich today we smiled when we saw this gentleman approaching, complete with pith helmet and proper jodhpurs. Looked rather smart but somewhat unusual!

And then Jude spotted the product below in Globus. It makes it funnier that they're nuts!

Funny things I heard today 

As part of a family board games tournament, I was playing Jude at Battleships.

John (my husband) was sitting next to Jude (my son) and said "I'll be the independent adjudicator."

My elder son Isaac immediately responded "Ok, I'll be the independent ad-Lisa-cator then."

Smile in other languages

In French - un sourire